Abstract
A fundamental objective in studying host-pathogen interactions is to determine how a pathogen evolves to overcome the defences of a previously resistant host. In mammalian systems, evolution of a pathogen population is often directed towards avoiding recognition by an immune system1–3. Although plants lack circulating antibodies and the memory response of mammalian immune systems, it is becoming increasingly clear that active resistance in plants involves recognition of the pathogen by its host4,5. In this paper we present the first molecular evidence to indicate that plant pathogens evolve to overcome resistance by evading host recognition and response. The bacterial pathogen Xanthomonas campestris pathovar vesicatoria mutates to overcome genetically defined resistance in pepper, Capsicum annuum, by the transposon-induced mutation of avrBs1 a bacterial gene that provokes the plant's resistance response.
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Kearney, B., Ronald, P., Dahlbeck, D. et al. Molecular basis for evasion of plant host defence in bacterial spot disease of pepper. Nature 332, 541–543 (1988). https://doi.org/10.1038/332541a0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/332541a0
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